The story of my leather bracelet

 When I was 18, terrible news erupted: my favorite rock musician Victor Tsoi was killed in a car crash. He was only 28 (missed the “27 club” by mere 2 months). Devastated fans did not have the internet to communicate (it was 1990), however, on Arbat Street in Moscow they had occupied a windowless wall of a one story plain building to visually express their sorrows and unite with the likeminded. I need to tell you that Arbat Street is an old cobblestone street, lined up by theaters, stores and historical houses where famous people used to live. This street was made pedestrian only in the 1980s and since then the counter-culture youth hang out in this beautiful area. Traditionally (stemming from the Orthodox Church) the deceased were remembered on the 9th day following death. And for such remembrance people were gathered at the Tsoi Wall. I was one of them. It was a large cowd of singing, crying, mourning young people from various parts of the USSR (it still existed). At one point, I saw a photographer’s lens in my face (I was holding a candle). The older man with the camera winked at me and left the scene. For days, I searched newspapers for my image, but found none. I moved on. Life continued to astonish my generation and there were different reasons for me to visit Arbat Street. One day in 1994, I was going through newspapers that my aunt had saved for me. Suddenly, I saw a familiar face: it’s me, only younger! My aunt did not believe me. I reasoned: here is my pink velvet jacket that my grandmother made, here is my green silk scarf, finally- here is my beaded leather bracelet that I made myself! That convinced my aunt. Unfortunately, the newspaper was not new and I couldn’t buy more copies. Later on, I tried to find this newspaper online, but it was no longer published and the publications were not on the internet. Even the name of the writer of the unrelated article attached to the photo produced no results. However, I still have the article and it’s photocopies, as well as the bracelet. It hasn’t been worn in decades now, but provides a good souvenir from a different time, when an 18 year old girl dressed unconventionally and didn’t give a fig to what the society thought of her fearless eclecticism.

On June 21, 2022, Victor Tsoi would have turned 60…